Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Graphic Novel Challenge: Belladonna

I loved Pierre Alary's comic Sinbad, so Belladonna was a logical choice and I wasn't disappointed. It's a swashbuckling adventure story set in France in 1680. Marie, codename Belladonna, is part of a secret society protecting the king from all harm. But her past is going to come back to haunt her.

The art is gorgeous. I adore the composition here for example:

and the way the story is driven forwards without a single word (okay, one) here:

I had one problem, though, and that was with Maxim, leader of the Musketeers and would-be lover of Marie. He is very much the damsel in distress and Marie has to rescue him not once, but several times. The one time she doesn't, Maxim goes into full "I was betrayed"-mode without stopping to think that she might have had her reasons. I get it, he's her weak point, but there's no need to rub it in like that. Also, Marie is a strong character and there's no need to make other characters weaker to get that across.

But that didn't stop me from enjoying the series very much. And now I'm waiting for the next installment. The first three books are a complete story, but there are things left unanswered (some pretty big things, actually) and I really want to know what happens next.